Syntrichia in Moss Flora of China @ efloras.org

29. Syntrichia Brid., J. Bot. (Schrader). 1(2):299. 1801.

赤藓属

Plants usually medium-sized to large, sometimes rather robust, green to reddish brown, in loose or dense tufts. Stems erect, simple or irregularly branched, radiculose at base; central strand usually present, rarely absent. Leaves appressed or contorted-curved to somewhat crisped when dry, spreading or sometimes reflexed when moist, oblong-ligulate to spathulate, or narrowly ovate-lanceolate, rounded-obtuse to broadly acute or mucronate at apex, upper lamina broadly channeled or keeled, weakly sheathing at base; margins often recurved, crenulate by projecting papillae, usually forming a differentiated border, consisting of several rows of thick-walled, or sometimes elongated cells, yellowish or brownish, border rarely absent; costa rather stout, often reddish brown, excurrent, ending in a short to rather long awn, often denticulate on the back or at tips, costa rarely percurrent or ending below the apex, in cross section 1 dorsal stereid band present (which is exposed, not covered by parenchymatous epidermal cells) or sometimes the ventral stereid band very weakly developed; upper leaf cells subquadrate to rounded-hexagonal, each cell densely covered with several C-shaped papillae; basal cells distinctly differentiated, rectangular, thin-walled, hyaline, smooth. Autoicous or dioicous. Setae elongate, straight, yellowish brown; capsules erect or slightly inclined, cylindrical; peristome teeth 32, linear or filiform, twisted, papillose, rarely erect; basal membrane high; annuli differentiated; opercula conic-rostrate, with a long, oblique beak. Calyptrae cucullate, smooth. Spores spherical, small, yellowish green or reddish brown, smooth or finely papillose.

We follow Zander’s (1993) system, separating Syntrichia from Tortula. Six species of Syntrichia are recognized in this study.

1 Leaves rounded-obtuse, mucronate; costa percurrent or somewhat excurrent 2 Syntrichia fragilis

+ Leaves acute or broadly acute; costa rather long-excurrent, ending in an awn (2)

2 (1) Leaf margins usually rather plane or only slightly recurved; costa smooth on the dorsal surface, ending in a smooth or distantly denticulate awn (3)

+ Leaf margins rather strongly recurved to revolute; costa dentate on the dorsal surface, ending in a coarsely serrate awn (4)

3 (2) Awns hyaline, distantly denticulate; upper leaf cells pentagonal or hexagonal, rather thin-walled; basal membrane low, less than 1/4 peristome teeth length 3 Syntrichia longimucronata

+ Awns reddish brown, smooth; upper leaf cells rounded-hexagonal, rather thick-walled; basal membrane high, ca. 1/3 the peristome teeth length 6 Syntrichia sinensis

4 (2) Plants usually less than 1.5(-2) cm high; upper lamina often bistratose in cross section 1 Syntrichia caninervis

+ Plants usually larger than (2-)3(-8) cm high; upper lamina unistratose in cross section (5)

5 (4) Autoicous (synoicous); basal leaf cells lax, thin-walled, short-rectangular to quadrate at the margins, ca. twice as long as wide; stem with a central strand 4 Syntrichia princeps

+ Dioicous; basal leaf cells firm, somewhat thick-walled, narrowly rectangular to quadrate of narrowly rectangular at the margins, at least three times as long as wide; stem without a central strand 5 Syntrichia ruralis

Lower Taxa